There is a massive industry worldwide for retail sale of clothes and garments. A traditional retail model involves selling garments from a shop or store wherein members of the public can go to the store, try on a number of garments and purchase their selected garment(s) thereafter. With the increased pace of modern living and consumer demand for greater retail choice, regardless of their own geographical location or availability, online clothes shopping has become popular.
Many online retailers exist which enable a user to view garments online before purchasing them. Often images are provided of models wearing the garments to give an idea of how they will look in practice. However this can be of limited value since the models used in such images are often only of one particular body type or there may be a short list of “body types” to choose from to more closely resemble the consumer but the choices offered will be limited and therefore different to the actual bodies of the consumers using the online retail service.
Offering online services is an attractive option for the retailer who can grow into new territories without the need to build a store. However an issue for the retailers is that up to 50% of all garments bought online are returned. For example, often women order the same dress in two sizes and try them both on at home and return the one that fits less well, as well as trying on at home to see how it suits and drapes. This 50% return rate can cost up to around 10-25% of online retailer revenues, which equates to $billions wasted globally, as the retailers have the unwanted goods shipped back and repackaged and restocked for re sale. So, as well as the original lost sale, the retailer suffers due to the added resources, time and expense involved in the returns process. This is a major issue for online retailers.
Addressing the issues with online clothes retail properly would help the efficiency of the retailer's business, increase the satisfaction and experience of the consumer and impact positively on the carbon footprint if fewer items are returned.
Various approaches are known for improving the reliability of online retailing for the customers. International patent application WO 2009/090391, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a garment filter generation system and method. The method includes entering body data representing a plurality of points on or under the surface of a body, deriving at least one body proportion therefrom and comparing that body proportion data to garment data in order to filter out garments that are unsuitable for wearing by a person with those proportions. Although useful, that method as described relies on the use of a three dimensional body scanner for obtaining measurement information for a body.
Other online retailers also rely on body scanners for online garment fitting, or rely on a few standard measurements input by the user for their body (only height/waist/hips/bust for example) which is limiting. The small number of measurements used lead to a lack of accuracy and as human input is used, this approach is open to user error.
Some online systems provide only visualisation, for a “try on”. This is not analogous to trying on clothes but instead provides an image of clothes mapped onto a 3D body.
Computer graphics for the film ad special effects industry have been visualising 3D characters wearing 3D clothes for many years.
There is no known system or method that can faithfully simulate the trying on of a garment by a user in a straightforward and cost effective manner which would enable it to be used at home by the general public.
An invention is set out in the claims.
According to an aspect there is provided a method of creating a three dimensional model of a unique body; said method comprising obtaining a three dimensional model of a standard body, obtaining a two dimensional image of the unique body that is to be modelled, determining a location of the unique body in said image, determining a position of the unique body in said image and using the determined location and position data to extract a two dimensional outline of the unique body from the two dimensional image. The method further comprises selecting a measurement for which a value is to be calculated for the unique body, calculating a value of said selected measurement from the extracted two dimensional outline, using said calculated value of the predetermined measurement to update a corresponding measurement on the three dimensional model of a standard body and outputting the updated three dimensional model of a standard body as a three dimensional model of the unique body.
According to an aspect there is provided a method of creating a model of a garment, said method comprising defining a plurality of component parts of the garment, obtaining geometric data for the garment, said geometric data being sufficient for the garment to be manufactured from its component parts, obtaining landmark data for the garment, said landmark data comprising at least one indicator to determine the position of a connection to be made between first and second parts of the garment and using said geometric data and landmark data to generate a model of component parts of the garment.
According to an aspect there is provided a method of modelling a garment for simulating fitting of that garment to a body, said method comprising obtaining a three dimensional model of the body and defining a grid surrounding said three dimensional body, wherein individual cells of the grid encompass different respective portions of the modelled body. The method further comprises obtaining a model of the garment to be fitted, said model including first and second parts of the garment separate from one another, positioning said first and second parts of the garment in selected cells of the grid, wherein said cells are selected according to a relationship between the encompassed portions of the modelled body and the first and second parts of garment; and aligning said first and second parts of the garment in preparation for bringing them together around the modelled body.
According to an aspect there is provided a method of simulating the fitting of a garment to a unique body, comprising obtaining a three dimensional model of the unique body, obtaining a three dimensional model of the garment to be fitted, implementing a collision between said three dimensional model of the unique body and said three dimensional model of the garment; and outputting a visualisation of the fitting as a result of said collision.